Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

hue

(4,949 posts)
Sun Apr 7, 2013, 11:00 AM Apr 2013

Bill Maher on Ayn Rand: ‘It’s all stuff that seems very deep when you’re 19 years old’

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/04/05/bill-maher-on-ayn-rand-its-all-stuff-that-seems-very-deep-when-youre-19-years-old/

Bill Maher delivered a blistering critique of modern libertarianism on Friday’s episode of Real Time With Bill Maher, slamming adherents for developing a “creepy obsession” with author Ayn Rand.

“It’s all stuff that seems very deep when you’re 19 years old,” he said, before making a quick exemption for one of his guests, young anti-creationism advocate Zack Kopplin. “About how government is a dirty trick played by the weak on the strong, and I can see how, if you’re a privileged college kid, you read that and think, ‘Yeah, that’s right, I don’t need anything. So shut up, Dad, and pay my tuition.’”

Rand’s work has often cited been as an influence on Republican lawmakers like Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI). Ryan went so far as to once say that Rand taught him “what my value systems are.”

“I believe him,” Maher said of Ryan. “Because [Rand's work] has a strange appeal to people who are kind of smart, but not really.”

Years ago, Maher conceded, he supported some libertarian ideals, saying he wanted to keep the government out of his bedroom, his medicine chest, “and especially not in the second drawer of the nightstand on the left side of my bed.”

But somewhere along the way, he said, libertarians became devotees of Rand’s novel Atlas Shrugged, which he called “a book that’s never been read all the way through by anyone with a girlfriend.”
19 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Bill Maher on Ayn Rand: ‘It’s all stuff that seems very deep when you’re 19 years old’ (Original Post) hue Apr 2013 OP
One of the first political books I have ever read was by Ayn Rand. ZombieHorde Apr 2013 #1
I hated that dreary crud too. It was clearly crap, or I'd probably jumped off a bridge. Hoyt Apr 2013 #4
19? My class rejected Rand in high school. We had to alsame Apr 2013 #2
We had a professor in college that loved her and had Atlas Shrugged as one of our texts. Rozlee Apr 2013 #10
Our context was better because we also read alsame Apr 2013 #11
I was about 17 when I tried to read "The Fountainhead." The Velveteen Ocelot Apr 2013 #3
I find "The Fountainhead" to be a very useful book. It keeps my workbench from wobbling. firenewt Apr 2013 #5
Tee hee brucefan Apr 2013 #6
Atlas Shrugged is not a book to be tossed aside lightly... awoke_in_2003 Apr 2013 #12
Dorothy Parker n/t Stargleamer Apr 2013 #14
Or maybe it was Sid Ziff: muriel_volestrangler Apr 2013 #16
i tried to give that one a shot around the same age, couldnt get thru much RedstDem Apr 2013 #19
I like what Maher said... WCGreen Apr 2013 #7
I was still a virgin... awoke_in_2003 Apr 2013 #13
Never had to read it in school treestar Apr 2013 #8
That was an excellent assessment by Bill. Cleita Apr 2013 #9
19 was about when I had my brief Ayn Rand enthusiasm. Paladin Apr 2013 #15
I read "Atlas Shrugged" between terms at University, but quit 20 pages from the end. . . Journeyman Apr 2013 #17
I was 14 when I read The Fountainhead, 16 when I tried to read Atlas Shrugged Rhiannon12866 Apr 2013 #18

ZombieHorde

(29,047 posts)
1. One of the first political books I have ever read was by Ayn Rand.
Sun Apr 7, 2013, 11:04 AM
Apr 2013

I fucking hated it. I couldn't finish it because it was just so terrible.

 

Hoyt

(54,770 posts)
4. I hated that dreary crud too. It was clearly crap, or I'd probably jumped off a bridge.
Sun Apr 7, 2013, 11:59 AM
Apr 2013

Rand must have been a delight to be around.

Maher is right about no one with a girl friend would finish it.

alsame

(7,784 posts)
2. 19? My class rejected Rand in high school. We had to
Sun Apr 7, 2013, 11:24 AM
Apr 2013

read Atlas Shrugged in 10th grade and we all thought it was crap.

Of course, we weren't wealthy kids so that may have influenced our reactions.

Rozlee

(2,529 posts)
10. We had a professor in college that loved her and had Atlas Shrugged as one of our texts.
Sun Apr 7, 2013, 02:44 PM
Apr 2013

Plus a workbook. It was the most miserable class I ever took. Plus, the class was a History of the US, World War I, post World War I, not polisci, philosophy or government and the book wasn't even published until the 50s. I'll never figure out how he got approval to have it as part of his curriculum. Those Randists are like evangelical missionaries at trying to convert people.

alsame

(7,784 posts)
11. Our context was better because we also read
Sun Apr 7, 2013, 03:03 PM
Apr 2013

Grapes of Wrath, Animal Farm, The Jungle, Brave New World and a few other political novels that expressed a specific ideology.

It was quite a while ago, but as I recall, after reading each novel we would discuss the author's political viewpoint and how it related to the era in which they lived. All I remember about Atlas Shrugged is that we all thought it was badly written and that 'objectivism' was just an excuse for being selfish and greedy. Haven't ever changed my mind.

The Velveteen Ocelot

(115,267 posts)
3. I was about 17 when I tried to read "The Fountainhead."
Sun Apr 7, 2013, 11:34 AM
Apr 2013

Didn't finish it. Even then I could identify crappy, boring writing, so after than I never bothered with any more Rand. Never even opened Atlas Shrugged, and I never will.

 

awoke_in_2003

(34,582 posts)
12. Atlas Shrugged is not a book to be tossed aside lightly...
Sun Apr 7, 2013, 03:06 PM
Apr 2013

it should be flung with great force. Sorry to whomever I stole that from.

muriel_volestrangler

(101,146 posts)
16. Or maybe it was Sid Ziff:
Sun Apr 7, 2013, 07:03 PM
Apr 2013
Multiple researchers have attempted to locate this joke in the writings of Dorothy Parker and have been unsuccessful. The earliest evidence located by QI appeared in the mass-circulation periodical Reader’s Digest in February 1960. The phrasing was slightly different, and the words were not ascribed to Parker: 1

From a book review: “It is not a book to be lightly thrown aside. It should be thrown with great force.”
—Sid Ziff in Los Angeles Mirror-News

Based on current information QI believes that Sid Ziff was the most likely creator of this humorous expression. Yet, the joke was reassigned to Dorothy Parker within a few years by Bennett Cerf who specialized in collecting and popularizing quotations. Cerf included the saying in his widely-syndicated newspaper column in October 1962: 2

FROM A BOOK REVIEW BY DOROTHY PARKER: “This is not a novel to be thrown aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force.”

http://quoteinvestigator.com/2013/03/26/great-force/

WCGreen

(45,558 posts)
7. I like what Maher said...
Sun Apr 7, 2013, 01:43 PM
Apr 2013

I always said that Rand was attractive to boys who have never had a non self inflicted orgasm.

 

awoke_in_2003

(34,582 posts)
13. I was still a virgin...
Sun Apr 7, 2013, 03:08 PM
Apr 2013

when I tried to read it. I am glad I stopped, or I might still be self-inflicting

treestar

(82,383 posts)
8. Never had to read it in school
Sun Apr 7, 2013, 01:46 PM
Apr 2013

I did read most of her works though - they made sense to a point but then I realized she was obsessed. Just so far to one side and not recognizing reality.

Paul Ryan is an idiot, as she also downed religion considerably. Too charitable for her, I suppose.

Cleita

(75,480 posts)
9. That was an excellent assessment by Bill.
Sun Apr 7, 2013, 01:55 PM
Apr 2013

I never read anything by Ayn Rand even though I was urged to by friends. My husband was an architect so he read "The Fountainhead" because all architects then read it and he called it silly claptrap. Those who did not adore her every word used words like narcissistic, stupid, boring and so on to describe what she wrote. How did she ever get published?

Paladin

(28,202 posts)
15. 19 was about when I had my brief Ayn Rand enthusiasm.
Sun Apr 7, 2013, 04:49 PM
Apr 2013

Thank God it only lasted a short time and I grew out of it.

Journeyman

(15,001 posts)
17. I read "Atlas Shrugged" between terms at University, but quit 20 pages from the end. . .
Mon Apr 8, 2013, 04:46 AM
Apr 2013

Urged by a fellow worker, I read "Atlas Shrugged" between terms while at University, but quit 20 pages from the end.

It was interesting, I imagine especially so from the perspective of a 'true believer.' There was one passage in particular, on the nature of money and its varied uses which I found somewhat enlightening for its description of the mindset of Objectivism, though not compelling enough to remember.* On the whole, however, I found it both pedantic and idiosyncratic, a paean to selfishness much at odds with my personal philosophies.

I abandoned it when classes began. I was at most a quarter hour from finishing, but there were more important topics in which to immerse myself. And frankly, I didn't care how it ended.


*I just did a search and, as expected, found the passage on some "believers" website: http://jim.com/money.htm
I couldn't read it again, but offer it for those who wish greater understanding of the Libertarian mind.

Rhiannon12866

(202,970 posts)
18. I was 14 when I read The Fountainhead, 16 when I tried to read Atlas Shrugged
Tue Apr 9, 2013, 03:02 AM
Apr 2013

I liked the Fountainhead, thought the characters were interesting and I've always liked architecture, but the last half of Atlas Shrugged was just one huge speech and I never got to the end.

Latest Discussions»Issue Forums»Editorials & Other Articles»Bill Maher on Ayn Rand: ‘...